Whats the best way to become a vegetarian?

Question

.....i was watching a clip called "chew on this" it was so sad what they did to the animals...but not just that....what the meat contains....today i found myself eating hotdogs...until i had a wierd feeling in my stomach...also...its hard for me to quit whole milk...yuck...although my taste buds cant help it...its like a getting a diet...getting rid of the sweets....one time i had to quit eating meat for a month because something happened to my stomach......so please help!!

Curious mind:...ummm...eat vegies only...right...=/

Answer 1

Here are tips:

1. Take your time - my journey from meat eater took about a year.
2. Start out using some basic substitutes for the meat you are used to in foods where you won't even notice - ground meat replacements are available in the frozen food sections.
3. Leave meat off things that don't need it - pizza, salad, spag, etc.
4. Get some good cookbooks when you are ready to branch into more interesting foods - Moosewood books and New Farm Vegetarian are two of my favorites.
5. If you are worried about what to eat check out the book "Diet for a New America" it will cover many of the health questions.

A good start is to pick one or two nights a week as "veggie" night. Then work your way from there stopping wherever you feel most comfortable which might be 2 nights a week or 7 nights a week up to you.

Answer 2

Being a vegetarian can be a difficult switch to make. The best way is to quit cold turkey (pun unintended!), to give away all the meat that you have in your house, and make an appointment to talk to your doctor. You'll need to take protein supplements to ensure you get all the nutrition your body would normally take from a steak or a chicken burger! Some non-meat sources of protein are nuts, tofu and soy beans. You can get a lot of tofu based products like veggie dogs, veggie burgers and veggie deli meats that you can eat. They have a lot less calories and no fat than their originals! Also, consider just how far you are willing to go. Some people are really hardcore and won't even eat candies or JellO because they contain gelatin (made from animal bones). Will you eat fish (some vegetarians still do)? Drink milk?
Best of luck!

Answer 3

I remember in high school watching a video about a slaughter house. We watched the killing, skinning, everything. Blood, everywhere. Then I went and ate a big juicy hamburger. Still delicious. It's a part of life, and I highly recommend you extensively research vegetarian diets and their consequences before you do anything. I know vegetarians that are healthy, but more often than not people do not realize that you can't just stop eating meat and expect to function properly. Whatever you decide, please don't become one of those vegetarians that lecture meat eaters about their habits. I have my reasons, and if you would like to know them, just look up what it would cost and mean for the entire world to be vegetarian. Hint: not possible. I don't mean to discourage you or say you shouldn't be a vegetarian: I'm just saying, do the research.

Answer 4

I ate that today too, but the difference is I had a VEGGIE dog, they are called "smart dogs" and taste really good and are way more healthy for you! I had it with a cold glass of low fat soy milk. It's amazing what a difference it can make to replace everyday since meals-the healthy way, like I just did right now, you should try it..have fun and good luck!

Answer 5

It's great you're interested in becoming vegetarian! One way to start is to make a list of your favorite foods, and then figure out how you can replace them with meatless products (such as veggie burgers, veg chicken patties, etc). You might have to do some taste testing to figure out which products you like the most. These websites are helpful too:

http://www.vegcooking.com
http://www.chooseveg.com/vegan-substitutes.asp
http://www.tryveg.com/cfi/toc/?v=06making

Good luck.

Answer 6

At first, follow proven, nutritionally balanced meal plans such as: http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/meals until you get more comfortable in experimenting w/ recipes such as http://www.theppk.com/

Some staples of a vegan diet: Vegetables incl. Dark-leafy greens (kale, collard, parsley, mustard, etc.), Fruits, whole grains (oatmeal, bread, rice, etc.), Legumes (beans), Essential fats (ground flaxseed, walnuts, olive oil, etc.)

There are so many soy milks out there, try different brands until you find one you like. I prefer Silk Enhanced. Eden & Soy Dream are good too. Cow's milk is yucky as it contains pus.

Take a veg multi-vitamin or at least 1000mcg B-12 tablets.

Answer 7

Here's a link that will really help you:

http://www.alternet.org/environment/48633

There's also a new yahoo group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/transitioning_veggie/
that is especially geared to helping the new vegetarian. (I founded the group and I invite you to join us.) There are a number of "experienced" vegetarians and vegans who want to help you successfully become a vegetarian.

Answer 8

you don't have to stop drinking milk unless your becoming a vegan.

you can try to slowly cut out the meat (i.e. eat 1 meat item a week) until you cut it out of your system

Answer 9

Well step one :Do not eat meat

Step two:repeat step one

Answer 10

be born as a cow